I was thinking something similar but I wasn't sure how to put it into words.

Like this has a sort of circular self-proving logic to it (not in the fallacy way, like the dialectical way) where the more these people get upset by criticisms not directly aimed at them, the more they prove that an association exists between the behavior being criticized and their identity.

Whiteness as a floating signifier will change meaning with ebbs and flows of power and material dynamics, so it's interesting to see these reactionary manifestations.